


Book 1: Trust

by LazyBoyo, Mikachu0087



Series: Tales of the Dragon and the Bison [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Air Nomads (Avatar), Airbending & Airbenders, Angst, Bisexual Male Character, Boys' Love, Competition, Earthbending & Earthbenders, F/F, F/M, Family Bonding, Firebending & Firebenders, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mental Instability, Minor Character Death, Misunderstandings, Original Character Death(s), Scarification, Self-Discovery, Spirit World, Waterbending & Waterbenders
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:08:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29051886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazyBoyo/pseuds/LazyBoyo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikachu0087/pseuds/Mikachu0087
Summary: "Where am I?""A place you shouldn't be,""W-what?""Welcome to the land of the last airbenders, flameboy,"
Relationships: Bolin & Mako (Avatar), Bolin/Opal (Avatar), Korra & Mako (Avatar), Korra/Asami Sato, Mako & Pabu (Avatar)
Series: Tales of the Dragon and the Bison [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2131398
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. A Hidden Society

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Where am I?"
> 
> "A place you shouldn't be,"
> 
> "W-what?"
> 
> "Welcome to the land of the last airbenders, flameboy,"

The wind whistled around the flying bison, clothes fluttered and whipped with it. “If this trip takes any longer I might barf,” Bolin mumbled from his place leaning off the edge of the beasts saddle.

“Please don’t..” Korra grumbled, the memory of waterbending vomit off the bisons hide was still too fresh in her mind. Opal laughed from across the saddle a gleeful look on her face, even if it was at the expense of her fiance. 

In their peaceful waiting for the trip to come to an end no one heard the hulking of chains or faint commands shouted out from below. None of them noticed the scraping metal or the whistling scream the chains gave as they bolted into the air. They didn’t notice the net coming towards them from below. 

“KORRA LOOK OUT!” Asami had yelled just before the metal form slammed down over them all and dragged the bison towards the awaiting ships below.

“MAKO!” Korra wailed, more of a command than anything else as her eyes glowed white and she metal-bended the first net apart. 

“Got it!” He yelled back jumping up as soon as the device was off of him and taking off towards the ship below. Fire blasted from the young man's palms to slow his descent and a subtle blaze came from his feet as he got closer to the deck. The fire in his palms was directed towards the chain connected to the net still over the bison above. He put everything he had into it and soon enough the chains melted and fell lamely into the water. “Who are you?” He asked, the fire under his heels burning bright and sending him meters into the air- and right onto the main deck. Mako charged forcing the first man he saw back until he fell on the ground cowering away from him. The firebender grabbed the boys shirt and hoisted him up so they were eye to eye and screamed again “WHO ARE YOU?” He never saw the fist to the back of his head coming. 

An airbender stood looking around to see if there were any more intruders. “Take him to the brigg,” A simple enough command as he stood over now unconscious Mako. 

On the bison above all Asami could hear was screaming. Opal had jumped off the beast after Bolin and Korra after her. “Hurry up,” She mumbled almost helplessly, she could fight but didn’t know how to fly anything other than a plane.

A scream broke the silence “OPAL!” It was Bolin who had let out the yell, his words quickly turned to a guttural cry of pain.

In the ship below Korra was cornered by two other airbenders and Opal was trying to support Bolin. The boy was unconscious and his fiancee was beginning to panic. “Korra we have to go.” She spoke with a kind of desperation that refused to allow the avatar to ignore her. 

“I know.” She mumbled and in a quick action like she had seen Lin do so many times strung tight metal wires around the tallest of the ship's masts and whipped herself and Bolin into the air. Opal followed with a powerful gust of air and soon they were all back on the bison and flying faster than they had ever back to the airbender temples. 

“He’s bleeding,” Opal spoke desperately holding a cloth to Bolins head while Asami stared at Korra hoping for an answer as to what had happened while they were down there. She didn’t get anything but an expression of fury and of anguish. “He’s bleeding!” Opal spoke again, the shirt she was holding to the cut had been nearly soaked with blood. 

“Is there anything you can do to help him?” Asami asked Korra to no avail as they sped towards the islands.

“Where’s Mako?” Bolin queried just barely coming to and unable to find his brother. His voice was barely above a broken whisper. 

“He said, ‘Where’s Mako’.” Opal echoed, her face turning pale at the thought. They had gone from flying almost full speed to a dead stop in the air. Korra had heard that.

“We can’t go back, Bolin will die.” The engineer spoke almost as quietly as the earthbender had before. She wasn’t wrong, the boy had barely enough strength to last until the air temple if even that long. “We have to keep going.” She added a few seconds later louder than before and Korra spoke up- 

“Then I’ll go alone.” The tone she spoke in said it was final but she was ignored. 

“Bolin got taken down with Opals help there’s no way you can do this on your own!” Asami spoke trying to convince the avatar that despite how strong she was she was nowhere near invincible. 

“I can’t just leave him!” A frustrated yell left the avatars mouth before she could stop it.

“We’ll come back for him.” Opal answered before Asami could a steely look in her eyes. “But right now Bolin is the one who needs saving.” She spoke with confidence and finality. “Mako can handle himself.” Despite the ache it left in her chest Korra started off towards the Air Temple once more. 

-

Mako groaned loudly in a cloudy pain. There was a sack over the firebenders head and he could feel his arms being hoisted up, his legs were dragging below him. “H-hey wait,” He mumbled quietly without his voice, the steps became louder and more hollow- they’d stepped onto a dock. “W-wait,” He tried again, still unable to find his voice. The steps went from hollow and loud to soft and barely audible- Whoever was carrying him had walked onto sand. 

Mako was dropped a few steps later and the back was wrenched from his head forcing his eyes to face blinding light. He hissed under his breath and slammed his eyes closed as his pupils constricted and stung.

“Who are you firebender?” A deep voice questioned from a few feet away. Mako had tried to climb to his feet once more but was forced back down onto his knees by the men from before. 

“Mako.” He spoke fire burning from his hands. He looked up to face the man before swiftly swiping his leg under the two men holding him and standing to face the chief. “Who the hell are you?” He stood defiant with a fire burning in his eyes. “Why did you attack the ava-!?” He questioned just as furiously as before but got cut off when one of the men kicked the back of his knee and made him collapse back into the sand.

“We attacked no one. How did you get here?” A younger man asked, standing tall by the older man on his left as he watched his movements sternly.

“Yes! Yes you did! You tried to knock us out of the sky! Where’s Bolin? Where’s the avatar!?” Mako wailed angrily and tried to get to his feet again- The attempt ended with the sack being placed back over his head. “Avatar?” The young man muttered, turning his head confusedly to the older. “But there hasn’t been an avatar since the fire nation declared war,” 

“De-Declared war? The fire nation hasn’t been to war with anyone since Aang defeated firelord Ozai!” There was a kind of indignation to his words, a kind spurred on by the mask over his head. "You can't be serious.. Was there anyone else with him?" The man asked, the confusion to his tone rising. 

“Avatar Aang! Prince Zuko! Katara- Sokka- Toph Beifong the mother of metal bending!” Mako tried as if attempting to pull a memory from their minds, as if they had simply forgotten the history lesson everyone in his society knew and not as if they hadn’t learned it at all. He was desperate. “Avatar Korra is very real and she will come for me.” He spoke the sentence barely audibly beginning to realize that if they had Korra she’d have used her powers to get him and the others free by now. He didn’t want to believe they’d have taken her down.. He wasn’t sure he wanted to believe she left him behind to die either.. 

“Nonsense.” The chief spoke glaring down at the now defeated firebender. “His trickery will not go unpunished.” He growled the words out in a way that forced the two guards to believe him. “Come Kento. Away from that filth.” There was a special kind of resentment in the chieftain's eyes. He knew firebenders to be evil, he hadn’t expected them to be so convincing. Mako yelled and fought the guards as he was once again lifted and dragged after the chief. Any flame the young firebender was able to muster was smothered with a lack of oxygen by the chieftain himself.

"Wait!" The male now known as Kento yelped suddenly. "Father, stop!" 

The man stopped and held his hand up to halt the others. “What is it? You don’t believe him do you?” There was a flicker of vulnerability and trust in his eyes that was heavily overshadowed by a searing glare. “You can’t listen to a word that leaves this pests mouth!” 

"We know nothing of the outside world. We don't know if he is lying or speaking the truth," Kento stated, stepping forward. He observed Mako, his eyebrows furrowed before he turned back to his father. "I'll be responsible for him. If I find that he is lying, I'll cut him off immediately, but if he isn't-" the man paused, hesitant to continue. "Promise me, you'll at least listen to him," 

The chieftain glared down at Mako but his eyes softened at his son. “We cannot trust him-” He mumbled quietly almost to himself. “Fine.” He spoke, shocking the guards.

“S-sire you can’t be serious.” One spoke- “Darian you can’t! He’s a firebender!” He yelled stunned beyond those words. 

“I trust my son.” The chieftain- Darian spoke, “Do you not trust your next leader?” The challenge in his voice forced the two to swallow their next words- to choke their fears down.

“We trust you Darian..” The guards' eyes flickered to Mako who barely had enough strength left to stand. The silent fear of the being lying on the ground between them spoke volumes. 

“Take him to Wes, he can barely stand.” Darian spoke to both his son and one of the guards. “He’s not faring well with that concussion.” The man waved his hand dismissively and began to walk away. The guard followed him while the other knelt to heave Mako to his feet. 

“Let’s go young lord.” The man spoke against the nagging need to drop the dead weight of the firebender and go home. "Alright. Thank you Father," Kento called before following after the group.

“Don’t make me regret this decision Kento.” The young airbenders father warned him with an edge to his voice. An edge that held wariness and caution. “Lerain.”

“Yes Darian?”

“Keep my son safe.”

“Yes sire.” The guard now known as Larain spoke with intent to keep that promise. 

-

Lorain walked with heavy footfalls up stone and wood steps. “Wes!’ He called loudly before airbending the door open. “You have a patient.” The guard seemed overall displeased with the fact he was there and wanted to get the event over with. He had too many chance encounters with the woman in his life and despite the fact she was like a mother to him he dreaded seeing her outside of formal events.

“Lorrie? Did you try to fly again- Oh Kento.” The group heard her before they saw her and when she finally appeared there was a warm smile on her face. “How may I help you young sire?” There was a playful edge to the woman's voice as she stood with her hands on her hips silently observing the trio. 

Kento gestured to the man between him and Lorain. "He's got a concussion. Something I'm confident you can treat, right?" He hummed, a light smile coming to his face. 

"You brought him to me for a concussion? Must be someone pretty important." The woman chuckled before shaking her head. "Who is he anyway.. and why is there a bag on his head?"

"His name is Mako," Kento stated, raising the bag of the man's head. "He's a firebender," he added, dropping his hand to his side.

The woman's skin paled and her pupils constricted. “What?” Her whole form had stiffened in a way Lorain had never seen.

“Darian put him under our supervision.. He says the war is over.” The guard interjected hating the expression his adoptive mother wore.

“And you believed him?”

“Not for a second- Kento wanted to learn more about him.” Lorain countered once more, gaining a poisonous feeling. The expression Wes wore was comparable to that of a scared animal, one none of them had seen on her warm features in years. Despite the guards attempts the woman's eyes never left Makos slumped form, as pathetic as he was in his state he posed a powerful threat. 

“Why do you want me to heal him?” She questioned, her eyes finally leaving Mako's limp body and moving to Kento. "He can give us answers. We don't know what's going on outside of our home, but he does. I'll take care of him myself if he does anything suspicious, I give you my word," Kento stated firmly. He had grown up wondering what it was like outside of their island and he wouldn't be throwing this chance away. 

Wes’ eyes flickered to Lorain, “And you support this decision?”

The man hesitantly nodded; “I trust Kento.” Wes’ eyes lingered on Lorains for a few seconds before she herself nodded.

“I-I’ll heal him for you..” She spoke in an almost broken voice. “If he hurts any of our people I’ll kill him myself.” She spoke louder ensuring the firebender himself heard her before gesturing for Lorain to drop him on a stone slab that lay waiting in the other room.

Mako was barely conscious when he first felt the familiar tingling of a waterbenders healing. “Korra?” He mumbled in his daze, he was out of it and could barely see. Sweat beaded on the firebenders face and a small flame burned around his forearms and flowed down to his hands. The woman's bending intensified and the water that was once in the bin beside the slab started to glow with a blue hue and surrounded the young man's body. 

“Korra?” Mako bolted upright before being forced back onto the slab by Lorain. 

“Lie back firebender.” Wes spoke as Mako finally realized he was not yet saved. 

“Who are you?” He asked in a softer tone than any of them had heard from him. “Where are my friends?” He was still out of it but was slowly coming to. 

“Friends?” Lorain looked to Kento in question as Wes spoke to Mako.  
“I’m Wes, a healer. You can stop trying to burn the stone beneath you.” The way she spoke lulled Mako into a sense of safety despite his instincts telling him to fight harder he was too tired to keep trying.

“Thank you..” He mumbled quietly fading out of consciousness shocking Wes as he did. The stories of firebenders she had grown up on seemed to be false. In that moment she was willing to learn more about their prisoner. 

“Who else was with him?” Lorain questioned again looking at Kento with a serious look. “Darian said he was alone.. I thought he was lying about the Avatar?” Kento crossed his arms, leaning against the wall as he watched the woman work. "I'm not sure yet. He called the avatar Korra," he retorted. "He named off other people earlier. If he speaks the truth, I'm assuming they took part in ending the war," 

Wes froze the water freezing along with her. “Avatar?”

“When he first came to.. he was yelling about an avatar..” Lorain spoke looking at his adoptive mother- “Avatar Korra.”

-

Sweat beaded on Korras temple as she let out another cry and sent a punching bag flying across the room. It was the sixth time, the holes in the walls around her made it obvious. “You okay Avatar?” Varrick had entered with Zhu Li and had just barely missed being flattened against the wall with a punching bag. 

“We’re taking too long!” She growled out storming towards the man and lifting him by his shirt collar with little struggle. 

“H-hold on avatar this takes time- we-we have ships out looking! It’s just a matter of time.” He attempted to calm her with little success while Zhu Li simply grabbed his shirt and tugged him down pulling him out of his suit jacket and by extension Korras bone crushing grip. 

It was barely ten seconds later Asami had run into the room. “Bolins awake!” That was all it took for Varrick to be long forgotten. Korra and Asami had rushed to the hospital from the gym.

-

“Opal!” Korra yelped, almost rushing past the room. “He’s awake?”

“Yeah,” Bolin spoke up before Opal could, smiling lightly at his friend before his smile dropped. “Where’s Mako?”

The young avatar froze and looked to Opal; “You didn’t tell him?”  
“I thought it’d sound better coming from you..” She mumbled almost fearfully, she had seen how hairtrigger Korra had been and she was hesitant to bring up the issue. “H-he had just woken up..”

“Didn’t tell me what?” Bolin asked with a scared look in his eyes. “Wh-what didn’t you tell me?” Bolin had started to get up. “Di-did something happen to Mako?” He asked, getting increasingly worried. “Is-is he dead?” 

“We don’t know.” Korra spoke, it seemed the fire from before had died out. A kind of pathetic pain ached where the frustration once was.

“What do you mean you don’t know!?” 

“When you were injured we had to leave.. Mako didn’t make it back in time.. You were going to die.” Korra spoke, reasoning her own actions, desperately trying to make the pain hurt less. “H-he can fend for himself.. You-you were going to die, we couldn’t just turn back.” There was an edge to her voice that said she didn’t believe her own words.

It was too late however, Bolin was crying sobbing looking from person to person begging for it not to be true. His brother had to be hiding around the corner.. It had to be some kind of sick joke.. right?

-

“I thought the avatar was dead..” Wes mumbled.

“So did we,” Lorain responded not missing a beat. “He says otherwise.” The guard spoke gesturing to the man. "We can find out more when this guy wakes up," Kento said, pushing himself from the wall. "When will he wake up?" 

Wes looked deep in thought before her eyes flickered to Kento. “Soon? A few hours maybe.. Who knows how exhausted he is. He needs rest.”

Kento nodded. "Inform me when he wakes up please. I think I might squeeze a little more training in," he said, making his way to the door. Before leaving the room, he turned back to the duo. "Thank you for helping him," 

“Sure.” Lorain responded and Wes nodded at the boys second statement eyeing the firebender wearily. 

-

Kento blasted a wave of air into his opponents direction. Usually he'd be loud, grinning as he would defeat them within a couple minutes. 

This time, he was sidetracked, allowing the spar to draw out. It was cruel giving them hope of actually winning, but all he could think about was all the answers Mako held. 

Romun was a beast on the battlefield, despite that fact she could never stand a chance against Kento. The two had been sparring against each other since their childhood and he knew her every move and every weakness. Kento however was always learning to improve and change his tactics. Romun fought with something more like an earthbending style from ancient textbooks that were turning to dust. The moves lacked any kind of tact. Brute force was her go to and in a fight against an airbender that was a fatal mistake. 

“What are you mumbling about?” She growled out as sweat beaded down her back and began to stain her shirt. “We’ve been out here for half an hour and all you do is dodge and parry my attacks.” She huffed as she dodged yet another gust of wind. “What’s on your mind?” There was no animosity, a fading sense of competition- of rivalry but that was nothing in the face of her concern. 

Kento bit the inside of his cheek, pulling a faint before blowing the air up from her feet. "What are your thoughts on the outside world?" He questioned.

“This again?” The woman barked out looking at her friend with a mix of annoyance and genuine concern. She had been knocked onto her back and stared up at their watery sky with little interest. “What is there to wonder? The firebenders took over. If there is any world left up there it’s not welcoming.” The way she spoke seemed without curiosity, without the dreams that plagued her friend's mind. The waterbender hoisted herself up to her feet and charged at her friend hoping to catch him off guard but knowing she wouldn’t. “Why? What’s sparked you up after so many months of depressing silence?” She went limp in her attack expecting the painful blast of air that would normally slam into her chest and take her down into the waiting sand. 

Just as expected, Kento took his chance and knocked her down, letting out a short huff. "You'll find out soon enough," he muttered. "Let's say the fire nation didn't take over. What if the avatar returned?" 

The woman sucked in a deep breath before the air smacked into her chest. She caught herself with a water wall and wheezed when it and the blast smashed her ribcage. The water holding her a few feet off the ground glowed with a bright blue and the bruises that were already beginning to form disappeared. “If there’s an avatar they’ve forsaken us for the firelord.” Romun spoke dismissively before firing rapid shots of water like she had a water gun in her hand.

Kento dodged the shots, waving the shots that would hit him away. "The avatar is always reborn. Maybe he was," the man continued.

Romun lazily shot more water at her friend. “If he was then where was he when we needed him?” She looked at Kento with disinterest. “It’s kinda depressing to think there’s been a whole new avatar who has no idea that we’re down here still kicking.. Isn’t it?” 

Kento frowned. "We-" Sweeping his leg under, he slashed another wave into the air before launching an even larger blast of air in the woman's direction. "Cut ourselves off from everyone and haven't been found once. I can see why they haven't found us," 

Romun jumped into the air with the help of an ice blast and did a flip before landing a few feet away from him. She stood without trying to attack. Romun chewed on the thought for a few seconds with a furrowed brow and thoughtful eyes. “You’re not wrong..” She huffed. “But these are just maybe’s and what-if’s aren’t they?” With that she sent a whip of water at Kento swiping at his head while an ice sheet was cast at his ankles. “The danger of venturing above is greater than the prospect of a new world is worth.. Isn’t it?” She mumbled now conflicted as the icy handle of the water whip began to melt in her palm.

Kento jumped out of the way, rolling to a landing and halting the spar before they could continue. Wiping his face with the slightly damp top he wore, he rubbed against the back of his ear, a nervous habit he always had. "Honestly? I don't know," he answered truthfully. 

“I don’t know either..” Romun mumbled meeting her friend's eyes. “What brought this up?” She asked in a clearer tone, Kento hadn’t talked about the surface world in almost two months. He was beaten down about it for the longest time- Desperate to learn, sad he couldn’t. The waterbender paused. “What did you mean by ‘I’ll learn soon enough..” She eyed him suspiciously. “Does this have something to do with the scouts this morning?”

“KENTO!” Lorain screamed with all of the voice he had. He was a quarter mile away at the edge of the island where the silk, sand, and grass all met. 

“What’s he want?” Romun queried, staring off in the distance at the speck that was the head guard. “More ‘serious leader duties’ I ‘wouldn’t understand’?” The mocking in her voice was heavily emphasized. 

Kento gave out an awkward laugh. "Something like that?" He let out slowly. "I'll explain it later. I don't have the time right now," he called, running off past the other as he rushed towards Lorain, blasting himself into the air to get him there faster. 

“Yeahh leave me behind to go have fun with your other friends.” Romun spoke bitterly, she was mostly joking. Mostly. 

-  
Lorain waited at the edge of the island with his hands cupped around his mouth. “KENTO!” His voice was beginning to wear out when he saw the young king running his way. “The firebender’s awake.” He spoke in a raw voice when the boy was close enough to hear him. 

From there he had started their trip back to the healer bending to fling himself high into the air in a powerful jump. It was a matter of seconds before he landed on the front steps of the healers home. He entered the house without waiting for Kento knowing the boy would be seconds behind him.

"Where is he?" Kento questioned the moment he walked inside, his eyes scanning the area for the firebender. 

Mako was sitting upright on the slab talking to Wes. “Aang was the last avatar.. He was hibernating.. Hiding in the ice of the northern water tribe when it was attacked by the fire nation.” He was telling the story of prince Zuko and Aang. 

Kento closed the door behind him, snapping his mouth shut as he listened in to what Mako was saying. 

“Sokka and Katara found him-” Mako was beginning to catch on that these people, whoever they were, didn't know who he was talking about. “They were these two from the northern water tribe- and they met Toph Beifong.” Mako spoke about Toph in an almost affectionate way. “Toph is the mother of my mentor and my brother's mentor, Lin and Suyin.” He stopped talking when he saw that Kento had entered. His relaxed demeanor had shifted into an almost uncomfortable one. It was clear he didn’t trust either Lorain or Kento. Not yet at least. 

"What happened after that?" Kento questioned, ushering him to continue. 

“Well at first Zuko was a traitor. His father- The Phoenix King.. Firelord Ozai had burned half of his face and cast him out. Zuko hated that. He wanted to regain his fathers trust so he could be the next firelord.” Mako tried to remember the history lesson. “I don’t know what changed.. But somewhere along the way Zuko became a kind of mentor for Avatar Aang,” He spoke fondly connecting the story to his own experiences. “He taught Aang how to firebend and Toph taught him to earth bend, Katara taught him what she could about Waterbending, Toph created Metal bending somewhere along the way too.” He smiled, “They defeated the firelord and peace was restored.. More or less.” He chuckled at his own poor recollection of events. “Korra could probably tell it better.”

"Is she the new avatar?" Kento asked, his head tilting. 

"Yeah! Bolin and I were in the bending arenas when we met her." He spoke,"she just showed up one day.. back then we thought she was just some big talking waterbender." He spoke with a chuckle. "She slipped during one of our matches and outed herself as the avatar." Mako smiled. "We've been friends ever since."

Kento's grey orbs narrowed in on Mako, watching every movement that might tell that he was lying. He saw nothing but honesty and that broke a grin on his face. So this was on the surface world? The war was over and the avatar was alive? Kento blinked, his grin fading. "How did you get here then? We haven't been found ever since Master Gyatso hid us from the fire nation," 

“Gyatso? Aangs airbender mentor?” Mako asked skeptically.. It couldn’t be the same guy.. Right? Aang had always said he died. “There’s.. There’s no way..” He mumbled. Then again there was no way this place existed right? “We were flying back to the capital of the metal bending nation when we were shot down by one of your ships,” Mako spoke almost hesitantly, it was a sore subject for him. Being left behind wasn’t his plan.

Kento rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "Those were likely to be bandits or some sort. We've never been to the surface and we certainly did not attack you and your friends," he grumbled, the grin of face fading to a scowl.

“Then how’d I end up here?” Mako asked,questioning not only Kento but his own fuzzy recollection of events. "I could ask you the same thing. We found you on the shore unconscious," Kento responded with a small shrug.

"W-what?” The firebender muttered, running his hands through his hair with a furrowed brow. “But.. the ship was full of airbenders.” Kento's lips straightened into a thin line. He knew Mako was upset. The man was with his friends and then woke up on an island nonexistent to the outside world. 

"I understand your distress, but please don't misunderstand us. We'll eventually find a way back up for you, but for now, I'm in charge of you. If you're feeling better, we can get you some food and a bath. There's a guest room I can lend you near mine, but if I catch you doing something that may cause our tribe to be in danger, I won't stand by," Kento stated, untangling his crossed arms as he held a hand out for the firebender. "Name's Kento," 

“Thank you,” Mako spoke, still feeling a bit troubled over how he came to arrive on the island. “I’m Mako,”

Kento's grin returned. He finally found his answers. He also had a feeling that there was so much more he could learn. 

Kentos grin reminded Mako a lot of Korra, his heart ached for a moment. He didn’t know if the others were even safe and the thought wouldn’t leave him alone. Even so the young firebender moved to his feet and though he stumbled, he moved to face the airbender. As he stood Lorain tensed and he stepped forward infront of Wes. That act alone reminded Mako just how unwelcome he was there. The tense feeling from before rooted itself in him and he fought to keep flames from bursting to life around his hands. He didn’t feel safe but defending himself would make his situation even worse. 

Instead of starting a fight the young firebender forced a smile. “I hope we can get along until Korra comes.” He seemed so confident in his friend rescuing him, it was almost admirable.

Kento nodded and slid his tanned fingers through his sweaty, knotted hair. Mako caught a glimpse of an arrow tattooed to his forehead under the dark bangs. It was then where Mako actually took the chance to observe the airbender. 

Toned olive skin glistened with sweat against the lights of the room, complimenting his features rather well. Mako could tell that Kento was strong just by the rippling muscles that were visible in his arms and shoulders. It seemed there was barely any baby fat left on the airbenders body. As Mako looked up, he caught the brightest grey eyes he had ever seen, sparkling with determination and hope as they stared back into his own. 

The firebender felt his breath catch in his throat. He had seen that look before; it was the one that gravitated him towards the Avatar. The expression of uncontained determination seemed to cover the face of everyone he found himself close to. The intensity of the airbender was one he was willing to match, Mako stared right back at him with all of the strength he could muster. Even the doubt and fear he felt was chased away in that shining moment. 

“Young love,” Wes spoke startling Lorain who had been glancing between the two at a rapid pace.  
“Wh-what?” He spoke almost indignantly. “They couldn’t possibly-”  
“Shh you’ll ruin the moment,” With that Wes dragged her adoptive son into the kitchen and away from the two. “They’ll have enough from his father without you too Lorry.” The young guard merely looked at the woman with barely contained concern.


	2. The Challenges We Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bolin refuses to stay in bed as Korra and Varrick try to find their missing friend. Meanwhile, Kento and Mako make bets and learn more about each other.

“Bolin!” Opal yelled at her boyfriend with barely contained irritation as she airbended him back into his hospital bed for the fourth time that day. She had a hard enough time with keeping Korra in check without him attempting to run off too. 

“If Korra gets to go I do too!” He wailed as she wrenched him back into his bed once again.

“Korra-” She grunted in effort forcing him back into the bed. “Is the avatar-” She groaned as the man had once again nearly escaped. “You are a single earthbender!”

“He’s my brother!”

“I know he is.”

“He’d do the same for me!”

“I know he would,” Opal spoke like it was the twentieth time they’d had this conversation and it was. “But he would trust Korra to find you,” She sighed,”Just like you should.”

“Nuktuk wouldn’t stand for this and neither-” Bolin tried to force his way past his airbending lover without hurting her. “Will I- Ahah!” He shouted his victory as he began to jog down the hallway and right into Asami who held their lunch. 

“Bolin?” She questioned with a quirked brow just barely able to save their takeout. “What are you doing?”

“Aheh, just getting some air?” He spoke as more of a question than anything else before dipping around her just in time for Opal to come storming out of his hospital room. 

“Opal?” Asami questioned her brow raising at the sight of the young woman trying to wrestle her boyfriend to the ground. “The foods here.. If you’re interested.” She mumbled a bit half heartedly as she watched the twos’ limbs entangled and Opal's cries of furious frustration filled the room. 

The nonbender sighed and placed the food on the ground before kneeling and wrenching the two apart. “Bolin- Varrick and Korra are looking for your brother so you can heal.” As she said this she stood Opal up on her feet dusted off the girls shoulders and grabbed Bolins heel as he tried to make his great escape. “You need to heal so you can join them,” She began to walk back to the hospital room dragging a clawing and unwilling Bolin with her. 

“Raava woman when did you get so damn strong!” The earthbender groaned trying to dig his nails into the tiles and pull himself the other direction. 

“Since I’ve had to drag your sorry ass back to your bed for two weeks straight.” Asami sighed. “If you keep stressing yourself like this the doctor’ll never let you leave.” Those words seemed to do the trick- They always did. Never permanently though, sooner or later Bolin would always build himself up enough to run out of the room for his brother.

“I don’t like sitting here not able to do anything!”

“And you think I do?” Asami had snapped at him with a hard glare in her eyes. The hurt look on Bolins face was enough for guilt to immediately set in. “Look- Varrick has been combing the ocean for them, Korra has too, going from every possible island.. She’s been tearing apart bandit dens for the past three weeks trying to find him.” She sighed again, her shoulders sagging, the whole ordeal was taking its toll. 

Opal placed a hand on Asami’s back in an attempt at comfort. “Hey- We’ll find him, and we can all go to that stupid restaurant he was talking about before this all went down.” The airbender chuckled. 

-

Korra stood at the starboard bow of one of Varricks ships, her eyes glowed with a white hue. She hadn’t left her avatar state in almost a week, her body wasn’t able to handle the constant stress so the avatar took over. The young avatar had barely slept or otherwise rested since Mako was first discovered missing. 

“We’ll find him.” Varrick offered lamely like he had for the past weeks. He was beginning to look as rough as she was. Zhu Li was on another vessel looking in another part of the ocean, they had nearly covered the whole thing over and couldn’t find a single trace of Mako. 

“Will we?” Korra mumbled, shocking Varrick more than anything else. She hadn’t spoken almost at all since going ‘full avatar’ as the businessman had put it.

“We will. We’ll bring him home avatar, just you wait.” He spoke with a lopsided grin and a determination she hadn’t seen in him since the end of the first week at sea. Korra frowned and Varrick took his chance while she was still aware of the world and he spoke, almost solemnly- “you need to rest Korra.. We’re all worried about you.. You haven’t slept in weeks.. You’re going to kill yourself looking for him.”

The biting urge to respond ‘If that’s what it takes,’ burned it’s way up Korras throat but she choked it down. “I know,” She mumbled instead. “I’ll sleep tonight.” She promised unsure if she could keep to it. The prospect of sleeping- Of resting while Mako was still out there dead, alive, hurt, dug a hole in her chest. The fact she didn’t even know if he was dead or alive made the feeling so much worse. 

Varrick nodded quietly, almost scaredly and turned away. He had never seen the avatar so affected by anything other than losing her powers. He needed to find Mako and do it fast so the avatar could go back to her normal self and he could stop caring so deeply about her wellbeing. So he could have Zhu Li back and be safe from the gnawing guilt that built up like a storm in him every time he saw the glowing eyes of the Avatars of the past all clawing for control of their host.

-

Romun ran, her footfalls were hard enough to shake the earth beneath her and sweat dripped off her forehead. ‘Just one more turn,’ she thought to herself before launching off the roof of a building. ‘Being an airbender would make this so much easier,’ she groaned internally and caught herself against a ledge almost losing the air in her lungs as she hauled herself onto the roof. The heavy thud of her hitting the building was enough to alert the people inside- Not that they’d mind the young waterbender was known to be airborne during the daylight hours.  
Or so that’s what she thought, when the healer's head popped out from a window below and shouted up at her she hadn’t expected it, not one bit. “RAAVaaaaaaa,” The girl yelped and groaned, dragging out the last syllable. “Dammit Wes.”

The woman laughed at her expense and stood on the porch of her small home. “Come down, let me heal you, you’ve gotta have a few bruises. Come down, come down,” She ushered. “Your brother is here and he misses you!”

“That’s not what I saiidd!” Lorain groaned from the other room and walked out. “I said ‘maybe she could come visit me more,’” He glared at his mother and got a flick in response. 

“Your brother loves you,” Wes translated for her daughter; “And he would like to spend more time with you.”

“I meant visit you ma, not me,” The boy crossed his arms over his chest in childlike defiance.

“Sure darling, what are you doing up around here anyway Ro?”

“Run, gonna heal me so I can get back to it?” Romun asked and pushed past the two walking into the room. Before she could make it all the way to the healing room however a thick hand was clamped over her eyes and she was dragged back by her head and pulled into her brother's chest. 

“Iiii just love you sooo muuuchh,” As he did this he waved to Kento to hide Mako. “Youuu neeverrr viissiittt annyymoorree,” He dragged out his words even more and gestured more aggressively. Kento had stared at the siblings wide eyed before snatching Mako's hand and pulling him towards one of the closets. He planned to tell Romun eventually, but this was too soon!

“Why are you hugging me, and why is Kento trying to hide a man in Ma’s closet?” She questioned- her brother as quick as he was wasn’t closing his fingers tight enough and she could see just fine. 

“Dammit Lorain.” Wes muttered behind him. 

“Ma you can like bloodbend and stuff right?” He asked and thrusted the young woman towards her mother. “Erase her memories!”

“Son.. that’s not..” Wes groaned into her hand and looked up at the hopeful man with disdain clear on her face.

"You stay in there until I open the door, got it?" Kento hissed quietly to the firebender, closing the closet doors before Mako could even respond. 

“Wh-what?” Mako spoke barely audibly confirming Romun's previous observation.  
“What's with the boy in the closet??” Kento pressed his back against the closet, his hands gripping the handles tightly. "You can't see him!" He sputtered, his eyes watching the woman as if he was caught red handed doing something. Well, he was sort of. 

“What an amazing observation.” Romun squinted at him and walked towards the closet. “What are you hiding?” Kento gripped the handles tighter, his head shrinking away slightly. He didn't even realize what he was saying until he watched his friend's reaction. "I like guys! He's my boyfriend! W-we just got together so yo-you can't see him now!" 

"What," Romun's eyes went wide and her jaw went slack. "You have a boyfriend?" The look on her face was scary. Romun always had a comment on everything, nothing genuinely surprised her.

A few seconds later and a grin tugged at her lips, the grin turned into a smile and the smile that graced her face could've replaced the sun. "Since when! I thought you were going to die alone with all that surface talk," the smile didn't make the words sting any less. Kento averted his eyes, his face growing red from embarrassment. Though it was half true, he did find himself admiring men more than women, he could feel his gut wrench in the lie he had just told his friend. "D-don't tell dad," 

The smile faltered for a second, a slight frown taking over instead. "Wait why can't I meet him?" A lightbulb seemed to click into place. "Ohh that's why," she clicked her tongue and winked at her friend. "I'd never, introduce us soon though.. and stop hiding out in my moms house.. it's weird man."

Wes smacked Romun on the back of the head for that. "He's just as much my child as you are little eel." The childhood nickname distracted her enough to forget about the strange man all together. 

"Fine. Hangout at my moms. What do I care, be creepy. I'm going back to my run.. introduce us soon Kent," 

Kento just nodded and waited for the water bender to leave. When he was confident she was gone, he ripped the doors open, facing Mako with his hands letting go of the handles. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to say that,” he blurted almost instantly.

Mako was smirking back at him with a chuckle. “Don’t worry it was cute,” He spoke without thinking as he climbed out of the closet not noticing what he said until a few seconds later. “Wh-wait that’s not what I meant-” He stumbled over his words. “Well- it was kind of what I meant i mean you’re cute when you’re panicked but-” He stopped himself feeling the flickering of flames at the tips of his fingers. “Uh.” He stuttered. “Yeah?” Mako stopped talking and looked at the airbender with an air of discomfort while Wes snickered to her son in the background.

“A-are you hungry?” Kento asked flusteredly, attempting to change the subject. He hadn’t felt this hot in the face in a long time.

“Yes!” Mako exclaimed much too quickly in a much too high pitched voice. His hands were covering his reddened face and were subtly flickering with fire. Kento turned on his heels with a few quick nods as he led the way out of the room. “Let’s get you food then,” he mumbled, scurrying out of the room without another word.

“Ah, young love.” Wes spoke much to her sons dismay- Unfortunately he no longer had the strength to fight her on it. The young man chased after his charge and the chieftains' son ensuring they both stayed within his sight.

“Soo, where are we going?” Mako asked as he followed Kento ignoring the thundering footfalls of Lorain behind them. “Do you want food or not?” Kento huffed, letting his face slowly cool down.

“N-No I do just where?” He tried to rephrase wanting to know how far their destination might be. “It’s about five minutes away. Oh-“ Kento stopped, turning his head to meet Mako’s eyes. “Please, for the love of Raava, do not firebend. I don’t know about the airbenders on the surface, assuming there are any, we were trained to fight firebenders. I can’t guarantee your safety if you do that in public,” 

Mako stopped and nearly tripped when he did. He listened intently up until the end of Kentos speech. “R-right,” As someone who burst into flames when he was antagonised it didn’t seem like a favorable situation. Flames had started to lick at Makos fingers at the thought of being attacked by an army of airbenders, sweat dripped down his brow and anxiety had tugged at his neck. “Okay,” Kento murmured, turning back around. “I’ll guide you through the market today. I’ll show you the rest tomorrow so you can rest up. I won’t be letting you lounge around while you wait for your way out,” he chuckled, the grin on his face returning.

Kentos words calmed Mako and even coaxed a small chuckle from him. “Thank you,” He mumbled. “For all of this.” The serious tone the firebender took on wasn’t one he had shown at all. He seemed more a bundle of nerves and fire than the stone faced serious detective he was before all of this. Kento nodded and crossed his arms. “Don’t worry about it,” he hummed, his shoulders relaxing. He didn’t quite trust Mako yet, but he believed the fire bender would earn it in time. 

Lorain stood a few feet behind the two and sighed. “Mom was right.. His dads going to kill me.” His words were spoken under his breath and he wore an exhausted expression. ‘He looks happy though,’ a silent afterthought, the chieftains orders could wait.

“So, how much farther?” Mako asked his forgotten hunger growling to life and burning a hole in his gut. Kento couldn’t help but laugh at Mako’s stomach. “Not too far. How about we get to know each other a little more on the way? We’ll be seeing each other often,” he suggested, shoving his hands into the pockets of his baggy pants.  
“Sure,” Mako responded and kicked himself silently for the first question that came to mind- ‘where are you from?’ he laughed silently at his own idiocy and instead asked; “was that girl your sister?” he assumed so, they were so comfortable around each other and it made his heart ache for his brother.

Kento shook his head, though smiled at the thought. “No, she’s just a friend. I’m an only child. And you?” He questioned, slowing his pace slightly so he could walk by Mako’s side.

“I have Bolin and Pabu,” Mako responded, not elaborating, as much as he brought up Bolin the man must’ve been pretty important to him. Pabu however was a first time mention. “Korra and Asami are kind of like siblings too.. Though I did kiss them both,” He mumbled the last part. “More like close friends.” He decided, smiling at the ridiculousness of the thought. Just a few years ago he was so smitten for two women who would become the best matched couple he’d ever been in the presence of. Kento didn’t question the kissing part, deciding that was best. Huffing out a breath, he looked back forward. “So who’s Pabu?”

Mako chuckled at his innocent comment. “More like what’s Pabu,” He corrected. “He’s my brother's pet fire ferret,” He smiled at the memory of the little creature. “He’s been with us for years, just like family.” His eyes lit up, “How could I forget about Naga? Naga is Korra's polar bear dog. Those two are inseparable.” Kento seemed to light up at the mention of pets. “I have pets too! I have Rio and Suli! Rio’s an air bison, but Suli’s the cuddliest flying lemur you’ll ever meet!” The airbender exclaimed, his walk having a light skip at the mention of his pets.

Mako smiled at the airbenders glee. “I guess I’ll have to meet them before I leave,” The firebender hadn’t expected that sentence to leave him feeling hollow. Did he still want to leave? Of course he did, he just didn’t want to leave forever. The slight ache at the idea of never returning built up the more he saw Kento smile.

It seemed to upset Kento too, but the dimness that tainted his eyes that were so full of life was gone as fast as it had arrived. “I’ll be sure of that,” he cooed, raising his arms above his head in a stretch. “So do you have a job up there?”

Mako brightened almost immediately. “Lin!” He cheered before paling a sheet white; “oh Raavaa Lin..” He rubbed his face. “I had a job.. But Lin might kill me for disappearing for so long.” He huffed. “So I guess I was a detective,”

“That sounds interesting,” Kento hummed, dropping his hands back to his hips, a light breeze of wind following his hands.

“It was, I chased down the-” He stopped himself, “I chased down bad guys,” He smiled nonetheless, “Lin was teaching me how to use their tools even though I’m not a metal bender.” Kento turned to Mako again, his eyebrows furrowing. “When did metal bending become a thing? I’ve never heard of that in my life. Are there other kinds of bending that was created?”

“Oh right, Toph created metal bending, then of course there's lava bending, sand benders, lightning benders, ice benders- I think that’s just northern watertribe..” Mako listed them off not trying to guess which were already there when their island went under. “Then there's the anti-benders who can chi-block.” Kento’s head perked up at the last one. “Chi-blocking?” He murmured. It didn’t take him long to figure out what that one did. Just at the thought, his face paled. “But our chi is why we bend. People can stop our bending?”

“Yes, and I’m working to stop them.. Kind of,” The fresh memory of Asami tackling a bender thief with a chi-blocker glove sent a shiver of discomfort down his spine. Kento hummed, his gazing shifting from thoughts of his own. Shaking his head, he pointed up to the stands and houses in front of them. “We’re almost there. Just around the corner,”

“Good I don’t know how much longer I can last,” Mako quipped and as if on cue his stomach growled. Kento chuckled, raising his mouth to Mako’s ear before whispering “Remember no fire”. Grabbing onto Mako’s wrist, he dashed towards the market with an excited laugh.

“Yeah.. no problem,” Mako spoke without the chance to feel the familiar tick of anxiety as he was tugged after the airbender. Kento’s smile seemed to brighten as the comforting scents of the market filled his nose. He had completely forgotten about his grip on Mako, waving to other nomads as he pulled them through the area. “Usually this area has things like vases and jewelry and stuff. It’s nice to look at everyone’s creations now and then,” he hummed, pointing up to the stand up front. “The food stands are right over there,”

“Uh.. Do you guys use any kind of currency?” Mako questioned a bit awkwardly, he wanted to get his food and look at the stands with Kento but didn’t have any change to spare.. Especially not ancient coins. Kento nodded, shoving his free hand into his pocket. He was just about to shove his other one in, but realized how he was still holding onto Mako’s wrist. Quickly he let go, trying to fight off the blood rushing to his face. “We do. Do you guys have yuans?”

“Y-yeah we do,” He responded, “They’re made out of a different material though.. Since metalbenders appeared our currency has been changing.”

Kento nodded. “Is it nice up there? Wait, what’s the sky like?” He asked, his eyes widening as he just had the epiphany that he had never actually seen the sun. There were so many tales and descriptions of it, all he could ever think of was how beautiful it could've been.

It was then that all of it had started to click into place and Mako looked up. All of the sudden the color in his face left and he stumbled feeling sick to his stomach. “We-we’re underwater..” He mumbled more to himself than anyone else. “Un..underwater.” Mako stopped breathing for a moment until he realized he wasn’t breathing and started wheezing instead. “Oh Raava they’ll never find me..” He was hopeless and unable to breathe for a few moments. He turned himself upright after a while and looked at Kento. “Ok.. So the sky is very blue, sometimes it’s white with clouds, the clouds turn grey, water drops from the sky, then the clouds go away and it’s all blue again, never stare directly at the sun.” Mako seemed to rush the words out as a way of distracting himself.

Kento had frowned when he heard what Mako had first said. All thoughts of the sky he had always wished to see left his mind as he flicked the fire bender on the forehead. “Oi,” he huffed, biting the inside of his cheek. “If Korra really is the avatar, she’ll find you soon enough. If she doesn’t, we’ll find a way out for you ourselves,” the man had paused, before flashing Mako a reassuring smile. “Now let’s get some food in that stomach. You'll feel better afterwards,” 

Mako took a slow breath in and as shaky as it was it helped steady him. “I hope you get to meet her.” He spoke with a smile even if it was faint. “Thank you.” Kento nodded and crossed his arms. “You’ll get home regardless,” he hummed, turning back to the stalls as he began listing off all sorts of foods that Mako might like. -Don’t eat the seaweed steaks though. Those aren’t very nice- He had even suggested his personal favorites.

“Hmm. what's your favorite?” Mako asked considering getting something he’s had before but tempted to learn more about his newfound companion. “Me? Umm.. Oh! Have you tried sushi? It’s amazing,” Kento remarked, his mouth watering just at the mention of the food.

“No, but I imagine I’ll learn to love it even if I don’t,” Mako chuckled at the idea of being underwater for several days or even weeks. His chuckle died soon and the sinking feeling of nausea set into him again. “Where to, Kento?” He asked, forcing the thought from his mind and focusing instead on the airbender. “Right here actually. It’s underrated unfortunately,” Kento huffed, stepping in line behind the person at the counter. “More for me I guess. Also, if you don’t like this, there’s a bunch of other stuff that you might like,”

Mako smiled at Kento. “Ok,” His comment was simple but it outlined the budding trust he felt for the other. Kento had ordered quite a bit for both him and Mako. Besides, it was a win-win for him; if Mako didn’t like it, it was his, but if he did, then they could come here again and agree that this place was indeed amazing. “These rolls right here are probably the best anyone could eat. I’m betting the people on the surface couldn’t even beat this!” Kento declared grabbing one of the sushi rolls as he pushed one in Mako’s direction.

Mako had seen Asami eat this kind of sushi before, she had offered him some and he had refused. At this moment he was wishing he didn’t. With a quick intake of breath the firebender took the sushi and put it in his mouth hesitantly chewing. As he chewed he tried not to think about the food hoping he didn’t think it was gross and to his surprise he liked it. “That’s pretty good,” He spoke chewing the one in his mouth and reaching for another like it was trying to run away from him. Mako had scarffed down three before he had even registered picking up the second one. When he looked down and noticed the row he was picking them up from was almost gone he chuckled and sheepishly smiled wiping the leftover rice from his mouth. 

“Heh.. I guess I was hungrier than I thought,”

“I’m just happy you agree on how awesome these are,” Kento laughed, swallowing the rest of his rolls.

“I thought I was going to hate it,” The firebender mumbled sheepishly. “I don’t though,” He smiled and reached for the last one. 

“Oi.” The roll was blown away from where his hand was reaching, a challenging grin rising to Kento’s lips before he himself went to reach for it.

“Hey-” Mako spoke indignantly. He reached for the roll again squinting at Kento. “You have an unfair advantage,” He tried to guilt the boy into handing over the food. I dog leaned forward, his grin faltering to a pout. “But I’ve only had one,” he muttered, his shoulders sagging as he stared at the roll.

“Oh- You should’ve said,” Mako chuckled awkwardly and gave up on his attempts. “I didn’t know,” He added, relaxing into his seat. Kento cackled and shoved the roll into his mouth. “I know!” He piped, pushing himself up from the table. “I hope you’re still hungry because there’s a few other places you might like. Tell me if one catches your interest,” he hummed, brushing his hands off as he patted down his pants.

Mako got up to follow, chuckling a little at the others' words. “I’m still ravenous,” He spoke finally realizing the extent of his hunger. “Good.” Kento clapped, shuffling along until he was back to looking around. “How often do you train, by the way?” He questioned.

“Train?” The firebender questioned unsure what the other meant. 

Kento snickered. “Seeing how you give me that reaction, you’ll have to start joining me. I could teach you a few things,” he hummed. The suggestion brought up an adrenaline and thrill he never expected to have.

The firebender nodded curious as to just what the other meant. “I learned from Korra so I might be teaching you more than you teach me,” He grinned with a confidence he hadn’t felt since he was at Korras side saving the world. Kento raised a brow, gladly standing up to the challenge. “Don’t expect me to show your sorry ass any mercy,” he chuckled, continuing to the next stall.

“Mercy?” Mako leaned into Kentos ear so as to hide his words to the passerbys. “From an airbender?” He knew the words held more weight than he meant for them to but he couldn’t back down from a challenge. Kento tilted his head back, the mischievous grin melting into a smirk that showed off his eyes a little too much. He found Mako amusing, but also kind of stupid for what he was just about to get himself into. “Don’t underestimate me too much,” he purred, knocking his knuckle against the bridge of the firebender’s nose as he leaned forward again. “Let’s make a bet. Loser gets to do whatever the winner says for a whole day,” 

“I’ll take that bet and you’ll hate me for every second of it,” Mako smirked whether he was smirking at the prospect of winning or the closeness of them both was up to whichever ended better for him. In the moment his anxieties were fading into the background with the voices of the crowd. In a second his hand had left his side and grabbed a hold of Kentos chin. “I’ll win.” His eyes met Kentos and his confident smirk faltered into a genuine grin. At that realization he stepped back, his grin didn’t falter but his eyes did. His anxieties had pushed past the crowd and drifted into the forefront of his mind and at the center of it all was the aching idea that this could all be a ploy for the airbenders to take down both him and the avatar. The vulnerable moment was shut down immediately and Mako tensed, he’d do anything to keep Korra safe. He might just have to win this airbender over so fully that wasn’t a possibility- Or maybe that was what his heart was trying to tell him while his mind ran a mile a minute. 

Kento couldn’t help but grin, his eyes glistening with that same determination and hope he always had, sparking along with the sense of confidence in his skill level. He felt like it too. Kento knew he could take on Mako. 

Mako smiled matching Kentos determination with confident arrogance. “I’m not hungry anymore,” He spoke with an edge to his voice that said he wanted to see which one of them would come out victorious.

Kento stepped forward, lifting from the slight slouch in his bored spine as his eyes stared into Mako's with a sense of cockiness. "I don't think I am either," he said lowly, head lifting as his massive grin revealed the canines he grew rather proud of. Snatching Mako’s hand, he snapped back forward and made his way out of the market. “To training grounds, we go!”

Mako followed without any arguments a light smile on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, the timeline is a little screwed, but they'll meet again!! Bear with me!!😂😂


	3. The Guilty Ones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sparring, bonding, and new discoveries. 
> 
> Mixed feelings and mysteries untold. 
> 
> What's going on?

"These are private training grounds so I can promise you, nobody is gonna see your fire," Kento cooed, blasting himself forward and he launched closer to the shore. At those words flames began to lick up the firebenders arms. The inability to bend had left him feeling vulnerable, finally being able to burn was a breath of fresh air. 

“Two out of three?” He asked with a smug smirk. “You’ll need it.” Mako was enjoying himself, for a moment he pictured being back in the bending ring. Kento snickered, hands on his hips. "Expect a lot of training after you lose," the airbender declared, his hands suddenly raising above his head. Slamming them back down, he twisted his body until sand began to blow around them both. 

The firebender grinned and a light flickered in his eyes just before he jumped forward and sent a fireball at his opponent. Kento rolled out of the fireball's path and charged in Mako's direction. Lifting himself up in the air, a whip of air slung towards the firebender, another wave blasting above him. The firebender ducked down dropping below the strikes taking a second to regroup. He jumped up and sent a fireball and two streams of lightning at Kentos' sides. 

Kento shot himself out of the way at the last second, his eyes widening a fraction. "Lighting?" He let out, kicking at the sand once more to block Mako's vision of the airbender. 

Mako growled under his breath and wiped the sand from his eyes. “Playing dirty.” He remarked before sending a lighting strike through the ground lighting a circle of fire around the airbender. Kento clicked his tongue, his eyebrows furrowing in thought. There were quite a few tactics running through his head to encounter Mako's strikes, but he never expected the man to bend lightning. 

Puffing his cheeks, he sucked in a breath and blew out a massive force of air in Mako's direction. The brute strength of the blast was so great, a good scar had been left in the sand, the miniature rocks raining from the sky. Even the trees a good distance away had swayed from the wind. Mako jumped up and let the blast carry him before letting a swell of flames burst from his palms to slow his descent. He had moved far enough back for him to use his flames as he wanted without fear of hurting his new friend. Mako stepped back and inhaled, taking a moment to calm himself. The firebender then sent a tornado of flame and lightning towards the airbender. 

Kento bit his bottom lip, letting out a groan of frustration. Curling to the left, he blasted himself out of the way, feet stumbling in the water. Blasting himself up in the sky again, he barely made his way out of the tornado's range. He didn't stop there, deciding to charge closer and closer to the firebender. Mako grinned now that he had Kento on the run but the smile faded when he realized the airbender was coming closer not moving farther away. 

Kento had held in his confidence, seeing as it was too early to get cocky and reckless. The airbender had filled in the distance in only a few seconds, letting out a yell as his leg collided with Mako's side. As he launched Mako near the waters, he chased after the man, keeping close to restrict the other's movements. Mako was barely able to keep up with Kento trying to block the attacks but being unable to send any back. 

Kento grinned as his speed only continued to increase. Finally, after a moment, he slung his around over Mako's, pushing himself to the firebender's backside. Locking his fists around the man's abdomen, he bent himself backwards and threw Mako to the ground. Mako yelped in surprise before groaning in pain. 

Kento cackled and hurriedly set one of his feet on Mako's right arm, kneeling over the bender as he flicked his forehead. "Not bad," he hummed lightly. 

“Not bad?” Mako asked, talking more to himself than the other bender. "It wasn't easy going against fire for the first time. Now I know what to look out for," Kento said, pushing himself off the firebender before holding his hand out. "You fight pretty well," the airbender complimented, flashing Mako a small smile. 

The firebender took the airbender's hand and got to his feet. “You fight better,” He spoke almost disappointedly. Kento stared at the man, his smile fading. Slowly, he began to speak up. "Which is why I'll be teaching you. I've decided that I can trust you so during your stay here, I'll be making you stronger; faster," the shorter stated, patting Mako's bicep before stepping back. 

Mako sighed at the boys words, remembering saying something painfully similar to Wu when he first became his bodyguard. For a moment the memory of the arrogant prince brought a thin smile to his lips. The smile became melancholic when he registered there was the possibility of never seeing any of them again. 

Kento eventually started back towards the dip of sand he had created, waving his hands to fill the gash in. He might've gone a little overboard on that, but it was alright. When Kento had finished, he had turned back to Mako only to freeze in realization. "Raava, help me!" He shrieked, turning on his heels as he bolted back towards the village. Halting to a stop, he turned again to face the firebender, hands waving for him to hurry up. “Come on!”

“What?” Mako mumbled being forced from his memories. The fading silhouette of the airbender spurred him on however and he began running after his new friend. “Kento?” He called out pushing himself to run faster. Kento couldn't wait for the firebender, very much occupied with his own thoughts. "Hurry up!" He called instead as they both reached the outskirts. Mako sped up sending, himself into the air with a blast of fire to catch up. 

“What’s going on?” 

Kento puffed out, turning sharply to the right before running himself up against the wall. Lifting himself up on the ledge, he looked over. "I was supposed to meet with my father with the other higher ups. I can still make it, but we need to hurry!" The ravenette called, pulling the band out from his raven locks as he peered over the ledge. 

Mako nodded and climbed up after the airbender. When the firebender had gotten to the top, Kento had his hands full of garments, shoes pulled off as he stumbled through the room. It didn't take long for Mako to realize that this was Kento's bedroom.

An unmade bed sat in the corner of the room, a rack of clothes standing on the opposite side. A wide doorway led to what he assumed was the bathroom, another door possibly to the hallway of the house. It was a fairly decent size of a room; bigger than what tiny space he has for one. Suddenly, a set of clothes was shoved in Mako's arms as Kento scurried to mirror by his bed, more bands and a brush in hand. 

"Since you're coming with me, you're going to have to wear something much better than that. Go take a shower too. You reek of salt water," the airbender called, grimacing at the knots he came across in his wild hair. 

Mako stumbled red faced into the bathroom stripping as he went along rushing as fast as he could with his pants around his ankles. The firebender tripped and fell landing on the ground in front of the shower. “Ow,” He yelped, finally tugging his pants off and removed his shirt and scarf. The firebender got into the shower and his skin lit up with small flames warming the water to a scalding heat and washing himself quickly with the soaps in there. He didn’t have time to notice the way Kentos seafoam green body wash smelled just like the boy, he didn’t have time to register how calm it made him. He didn’t have time to notice and he had even less time when he caught himself drifting away in the soft warmth of the shower. He was far more exhausted than he had allowed himself to feel. “Dammit,” He mumbled and got out of the shower quickly drying his hair and his skin by running his hands along every open bit of it before quickly pulling on the clothes Kento left out for him. 

He didn’t notice how little time he actually took until it was too late. The door was open and Kento stood in the room almost completely naked, he was still getting dressed when the firebenders' pale knuckles turned the knob. Blood rushed to the young man's face and everywhere from his chest to his ears became a bright shade of red. The airbender didn’t even notice until Mako slammed the door shut yelping out an “sorry!” immediately after.

Kento froze, his eyes wide and face as red as tomatoes. He was just seen with little to no clothes- the airbender stood up straight, his eyebrows furrowing. Mako did seem more embarrassed than he was. His flushed face had completely vanished, loud cackles leaving his mouth as he picked up the clothes he had just dropped on the floor. "We're both men!" He laughed, quickly pulling the orange robe over his body.

“Sh-shut up!” Mako yelped still red in the face, a light thud followed his outburst. The firebender was leaning his head against the closed door with his face in his hands. ‘Why did I expect him to be scrawny?’ The thought floated through his mind along with the image of the airbenders' well defined and tanned abdomen.

After a few moments, Kento had knocked lightly on the other side of the door. "You can come out now," he said, voice muffled lightly through the door. 

Mako rubbed his face for a few seconds unknowingly disheveling his already messy hair. He stepped back and opened the door doing his best to maintain a poker face as he walked out. “Where is this meeting we have to go to?” He did his best to ignore the incident all together. 

"It's nearby luckily," Kento yawned, looking over the firebender as he crossed his arms. "Much better," the man clapped, checking himself over one last time through the mirror. 

Mako cleared his throat forcing the thoughts from his mind. “Ok,” He forced a smile and removed his eyes from Kentos' now clothed body. He frowned when he realized how mussed his hair had become and immediately set out to fixing the tousled mess. 

"While we're in there, I'm only asking one thing from you," Kento stated as he pulled the door to leave his room open. There was nothing soft about his features anymore as he turned to Mako. "Keep quiet. These guys know everyone and if they acknowledge you, I can't help," 

Mako swallowed the lump in his throat growing instead of fading. “Ok,” The words were barely above a whisper. 

At Mako's response, Kento's expression softened, a smile rising to his face. "Let's head out then. I'm already late as it is," the airbender pouted.

Mako found it in himself to smile and let out a soft chuckle at the other. “We better hurry then?” He phrased it as a question fearing that his life hung in the balance of this meeting. Kento snickered and quickly shuffled to the other, snatching his hand again before hustling out of the room. Makos' smile widened and became genuine as he followed the airbender, he felt like he could follow him anywhere. 

They both ran down the stairs and through the front door. To run at a better speed, he lifted the bottom of his robe and turned to the left. There was a building larger than the others, pillars being the only thing keeping it up. Dropping the bottom of the cloth, he swallowed and let out a breath. He could see his dad and a few others just beginning to walk inside the building and immediately, he began to run again. "Father!" 

Dorian turned quickly his head snapping to the sound of his name at a speed only a parent could manage. “Kento?” He questioned regaining his regular poise and glaring down at his son. “You’re late,” He let the disappointment drawl in his voice but he couldn’t hold it for long. “Is the intruder fairing well?” He half smirked at the way Mako couldn’t decide whether to puff out his chest or cower back. 

"Much better. Wes is truly the best healer," Kento grinned, turning back to the firebender. "I decided to have him come with me. You wouldn't want him alone, he needs some knowledge of this place, and many more reasons," 

Dorian clicked his tongue and looked to Lorain who stood a few feet away from him. “Lorain. You left your post.”

“Kento commanded me to.” He spoke with his head facing the ground but his hand rested on his staff forever on guard. “I would never disobey you.” He reassured the chieftain albeit a bit quieter than his previous comment. 

“Kento. Is this true?” The old airbender spoke with authority kings wished they could grasp. Kento slowly let go of Mako's hand, head nodded. "Yes," he responded, head bowing in slight ashament. It always upset him when his father disapproved of something, especially if it was something he did. 

Dorian's hand met the young airbenders shoulder, then pulled his jaw. “Why?” The chieftain was looking for logic in his son's actions. Mako stood silently watching the interaction with a set jaw and murder in his eyes, it wasn’t often he felt the piercing anger that flooded through him but something about the man made him uncomfortable to the point of outburst.

"Do I need a bodyguard when I'm stronger than him?" He huffed, his hands reaching to his father's to pull him off.

Dorian looked his son in the eyes and his brow furrowed. “Did you take him to the training grounds?” Kento stepped back, hands tugging Dorian's off. "Yes. Now let's go inside before we're both late," the younger muttered, taking Mako by the hand and passing Dorian as he stepped inside the building. 

The chieftains lip curled and he smiled in a way that sent a shiver down Lorains spine. “Keep a close eye on those two.” He patted the guards cheek without even turning to look at him and followed after his son and the firebender who had seemingly captured his interest. Mako had tried hard to keep his eyes forwards the second he saw the predatory glint in the old airbenders eyes. 

Makos hand tightened around Kentos and he followed close behind him with Lorain covering the pace between them and Dorian. Kento walked further into the building, bowing lightly when others would nod their head in his direction. He didn't come to many meetings with his father, but he enjoyed them. They didn't talk about much, mainly to review things; food, population, current events, future events. He didn't get much say in anything, however, they would ask him sometimes. He would speak up himself every now and then. 

Mako stood beside Kento slowly beginning to relax, the familiarity of the situation made him feel like he was back with Tenzin and Lin going over the latest incident report. He smiled softly at the thought and even began to lean against Kento, or at least he had before he caught a glimpse of one man. The golden green of his eyes and the bright sun bleached orange hair on the top of his head. 

“Kento.” He spoke softly knowing he didn’t need to raise his voice. The grip he had on the airbenders hand tightened into something fearful and almost painful. There was a fear and a discomfort in Mako that wouldn’t be soothed until he was away from this place. 

Kento looked to Mako, eyes flicking from their intertwined hands up to the taller's face. "Everything okay?" 

Mako could barely speak at first, his voice was rasping and grave. “He was there.” His eyes were set on the man, steely and unmoving. “He was there when we were netted.” Kento's eyebrows furrowed. "What?" He blurted, looking to where Mako was staring. Eventually, he shook his head, confused. "There's no way. We can't go up to the surface," he whispered. 

Mako's eyes didn’t waver when he stared Dorian down, he didn’t speak until fire was licking at his neck. “Then you need to talk to your father.” The chieftain had stepped in front of the orange haired man and met Makos eyes with that same glint as before, a taunt. 

Kento stared at Mako, his steps slowing to a stop. "We can't go to the surface," he breathed, reaching to his father's arm. "Right?" He could feel the tension rise in his chest, panic setting over. There was no way. They couldn't do that!

The firebender huffed and continued to watch Dorian. “We need to leave,” He spoke softly so only Kento could hear. “We need to talk.” Kento snapped his head to the firebender, eyebrows furrowing. "No. We can talk later," he stated, jaw clenching as he made it towards the meeting room. 

“We should leave. What else do you need to do here?” Mako asked, he was speaking in a louder tone but there was a desperation in his voice that said he was begging. “That man was there. In the ship when our bison was shot down.”

Kento was beyond confused. Looking over the firebender's shoulder, his confusion only grew. "Kalen? No, he couldn't have been. He'd rather die than break any of our laws," Kento argued, hand clenching Mako's tighter. 

“Orange hair.” Mako spoke. “He has a sun and moon raava tattoo on the inside of his left wrist.” The man was wearing arm guards at the moment and his wrists weren’t visible. "And who else? Who else was on this boat?" Kento asked, tone rising in frustration as he was trying to grasp the new information Mako was telling him. 

Mako combed through the crowd spotting and pointing out three others. “Him, her, and her.” He spoke with a seriousness he had yet to use against Kento. “They knocked me out almost as soon as I hit the deck.” Kento rubbed at his temples, a headache beginning to form. Tugging Mako along with him, he shuffled towards the chief of their home. "Father? May we be excused?"

Dorian smeared at mako but nodded nonetheless. The firebender almost immediately pulled Kento towards the door and a roaring laughter exploded just before they were able to exit. 

“Follow him.” The chieftain nodded his head towards the two sending Lorain after them in an instant. "Slow down!" Kento yelped, trying to loosen the hold Mako had on him. 

Mako didn’t stop even after they were far from the meeting room. His skin was pale, his eyes were dilated, and his heart raced in his chest. Panic flooded his veins and he didn’t snap back out of it until he stood on Wes’ porch. The broad form of Romun stood just beyond the threshold with her usual warm smile on her lips. “Kento?” A question spoken softly before Makos' haggard appearance registered. “Ken? Who’s this? Are you okay?” The waterbender stepped forward slowly and reached a hand out to her friend. Mako didn’t respond to her presence at all standing stone still with his eyes searching for Lorain- He knew Dorian wouldn’t have just allowed them to leave. Makos hand tightened around Kentos for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. Romuns brown eyes shot to the gesture and the ‘who’ was answered. 

“What happened?” The white haired woman asked again with one hand on her almost-brothers shoulder. "I'll explain later. Can we come in?" Kento questioned, stepping closer by the firebender's side. In response the waterbender stepped back into the house and allowed for the two to enter. Mako walked in but stayed by the door still waiting for Lorain to make his appearance. He was out of it by a long shot and didn’t seem to be coming down any time soon. 

The young guard was standing at the edge of the shadows. He met his sister's eyes and he gave a silent gesture for her to say nothing. Though confused she nodded back at him and attempted to pull Mako back from the door. “Hey,” She spoke at first and gently tapped him on his shoulder. “Are you alright?” The words clicked something into place and the firebender seemed to lose all of his spark. The young man's eyes showed exhaustion as well as terror and Romun wasn’t sure how to respond to such a strong emotion directed right to her. 

Kento had set a hand on Romun's shoulder. "Mako," he called softly, holding his palm out for the other. "It's okay,"

Mako's eyes teared up and he blinked slowly. He seemed to come out of his trance and finally registered all of the pain and fear he had been feeling. 

Kento's shoulders sagged at the sight of his new friend and gently tugged him inside. As frustrating the situation was, he knew this was important for Mako. He couldn't imagine how horrible it would feel to wake up in a place you didn't even know existed. "I think it's time for you to get some rest," the airbender muttered. "He'll rest in Lorain's bed. If he has a problem, he can sleep with me," 

Romun stood at the door staring off into the night where Mako had previously. She saw a reflection of a flickering torch in her brother's eyes and a sigh racked her chest. The waterbender raised her arm and waved the guard off before turning and walking into the light and the warmth of her mothers home. “You need to sleep too Ken,” there was an empathy in her eyes but a sternness in her tone that Kento had grown used to hearing. 

“I will,” the airbender said, tugging Mako in softly through the house as he made their way to his best friend’s room.

“Good,” The waterbender mumbled a response and disappeared into the room Wes had healed Mako in. 

Mako followed Kento numbly and glanced back at the door every few steps until it was out of his line of sight. After Kento had closed the bedroom door shut, he turned back to Mako, patting the firebender’s shoulders before stripping the outer layer of the few robes he wore. “You should shed a few of these. Wouldn’t want to get too hot under the covers, would we?” He chuckled lightly, folding the orange fabric in his hands. 

The fire bender didn’t respond but complied seemingly on autopilot. The exhaustion he wore seemed to drag him down faster than the thick layers of cloth he wore. Kento led Mako to the bed, pushing down the blankets before patting the covers, motioning for him to lay down. “Get some rest, okay?” 

Mako lied back on the bed and rolled onto his side still in a bit of a daze. His thoughts were buzzing with images of Dorians face and the others who were on the ship. The fire bender sighed and rubbed his eyes taking his last few moments of lucidity to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, our updates are slow!! We both are busy balancing out school, sports, and our emotional needs. We hope you understand :((
> 
> Other than that, I hope you keep reading!! Makken's (Mako and Kento's ship name lol) journey only escalates from here on out!! Be prepared for a long, bumpy ride!!


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